If Manti Te’o wanted to make sure he heard fake dead girlfriend jokes forever, he’d duck his head and mutter “no comment,” or “that’s in the past.”

Embracing the joke takes the sting out of the needle, and will be what makes it go away.

Te’o appeared to be a good sport about the whole thing when Maxim named Lennay Kekua No. 69 (seriously, are they 13?) on their annual list of the world’s hottest women (never mind, they make an annual list of the world’s hottest women).

The Chargers linebacker even showed up at the magazine’s promotional party, according to the blog Busted Coverage.

There he was photographed with the kind of pretty people I suppose you get photographed with at a Hollywood party. One of them, pro volleyball player Jess Gysin, is apparently the girlfriend of Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

Of course, Clausen hasn’t thrown an NFL pass since 2010, or even been active for a game since the Panthers drafted Cam Newton.

So maybe the question should be, do we believe Gysin when she says she’s dating an NFL quarterback?

I don't think you have to worry about Te'0 being some sort of Shaun Phillips, Jr. club-hopper. Going to the Maxim party was obviously all about publicity and trying to show that he has a sense of humor about the whole thing. It was a calculated PR move and a smart one. He obviously has good people advising him.

I don't think you have to worry about Te'0 being some sort of Shaun Phillips, Jr. club-hopper. Going to the Maxim party was obviously all about publicity and trying to show that he has a sense of humor about the whole thing. It was a calculated PR move and a smart one. He obviously has good people advising him.

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Maybe. I'm not sure though that I'm 100% on board with the
"To end this circus, we must feed this circus" theory.

Maybe just focusing on playing football...well...would work.

(to be clear, I absolutely want Te'o to have a sense of humor about that stupid debacle...but at this point, am I enthusiastic about a choice to actually go out and create new headlines about Lennay Kekua? Uh, not so much)

Yeah, we don't want any Chargers ever going to parties. They're not allowed to have social lives. Perform for us, monkeys!

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Well, I'm not sure if you're referring to my posts or not, but if you are, let me clarify:
I'm not saying anything like I "don't want them to have social lives..."

I'm saying that when one enters the NFL as a late-night punch-line, better known
across the country for a ridiculous fake story about a girl who never existed...
maybe you get one or two NFL tackles under your belt before you start
generating more off-the-field headlines about a fake girlfriend.

I'm all for putting that Kekua stupidity behind him, and having him get a fresh start
by letting his linebacker play do the talking for him, and creating a new narrative...

That headline, story & photo-op was not a step in the right direction, in my semi-humble opinion.(overriding my liking that he's showing a sense of humor about it)

p.s. And I sincerely am saying this just to clarify my position...not to escalate thesituation or get dramatic...I generally like your posts, HL...

Maybe. I'm not sure though that I'm 100% on board with the
"To end this circus, we must feed this circus" theory.

Maybe just focusing on playing football...well...would work.

(to be clear, I absolutely want Te'o to have a sense of humor about that stupid debacle...but at this point, am I enthusiastic about a choice to actually go out and create new headlines about Lennay Kekua? Uh, not so much)

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Yes, of course. We all know that if you ignore a controversy, it just goes way.

The headline was made when Maxim named Te'o's fake girlfriend in the top 100 hottest women. There would have been headlines about the party regardless if Te'o showed up. But by showing up, the headlines are about what a good sport Manti is, instead of just a rehashing of the embarrassing fake relationship.

Yes, of course. We all know that if you ignore a controversy, it just goes way.

The headline was made when Maxim named Te'o's fake girlfriend in the top 100 hottest women. There would have been headlines about the party regardless if Te'o showed up. But by showing up, the headlines are about what a good sport Manti is, instead of just a rehashing of the embarrassing fake relationship.

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Well, you're certainly free to interpret it however you wish.
The reality, however, is that there were two stories:
Maxim's...and then the 2nd story, that Te'o actually appeared.

Again, I applaud his being game...but there's no question that his appearance made the story bigger.(He can hardly be accused of "ignoring" the issue, at this point...the question is whether to continue to feed it)

Yeah, we don't want any Chargers ever going to parties. They're not allowed to have social lives. Perform for us, monkeys!

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Well considering that back in 2006, 2007 or 2008 whenever it was(or maybe all of the above), the rumor was that the team was out partying going to clubs before the playoff games. Which we ended up loosing all of them. Think this was mainly the 14-2 season where we lost against the Patriots. I can't really remember, but it obviously wasn't good work ethic.

Not saying Te'o is like that all, I'm sure he isn't, just that it seems chargers haven't had much luck in this area.

Matthews is known to have this reputation as well. One of the good friends on my family owns a beach house in PB/Mission Beach on Yarmouth CT. During the 2011 lock out offseason, Matthew and Arjututu(sp?) rented a beach house like 5 houses up from ours(i was stayin in there at the time) and Matthews and his friends were partying in there all the time. Suppoedly he rented it out for a whole year. I never talked to him, but I saw him riding his skateboard around a lot. Although I admit he went on to have his best season in 2011.

Well, you're certainly free to interpret it however you wish.
The reality, however, is that there were two stories:
Maxim's...and then the 2nd story, that Te'o actually appeared.

Again, I applaud his being game...but there's no question that his appearance made the story bigger.(He can hardly be accused of "ignoring" the issue, at this point...the question is whether to continue to feed it)

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And there's also no doubting that it changed the story from "Look, Maxim is Making fun of Te'o" to "Look Te'o's got a sense of humor about all this."

Well considering that back in 2006, 2007 or 2008 whenever it was(or maybe all of the above), the rumor was that the team was out partying going to clubs before the playoff games. Which we ended up loosing all of them. Think this was mainly the 14-2 season where we lost against the Patriots. I can't really remember, but it obviously wasn't good work ethic.

Not saying Te'o is like that all, I'm sure he isn't, just that it seems chargers haven't had much luck in this area.

Matthews is known to have this reputation as well. One of the good friends on my family owns a beach house in PB/Mission Beach on Yarmouth CT. During the 2011 lock out offseason, Matthew and Arjututu(sp?) rented a beach house like 5 houses up from ours(i was stayin in there at the time) and Matthews and his friends were partying in there all the time. Suppoedly he rented it out for a whole year. I never talked to him, but I saw him riding his skateboard around a lot. Although I admit he went on to have his best season in 2011.

But besides that I've heard he goes out in PB a lot.

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Everything is about context.

Obviously nobody wants the team out partying every day with little to no regard for gameday, but that doesn't mean we should get upset every time we hear about a player going to any kind of party whatsoever.

Well, I'm not sure if you're referring to my posts or not, but if you are, let me clarify:
I'm not saying anything like I "don't want them to have social lives..."

I'm saying that when one enters the NFL as a late-night punch-line, better known
across the country for a ridiculous fake story about a girl who never existed...
maybe you get one or two NFL tackles under your belt before you start
generating more off-the-field headlines about a fake girlfriend.

I'm all for putting that Kekua stupidity behind him, and having him get a fresh start
by letting his linebacker play do the talking for him, and creating a new narrative...

That headline, story & photo-op was not a step in the right direction, in my semi-humble opinion.(overriding my liking that he's showing a sense of humor about it)

p.s. And I sincerely am saying this just to clarify my position...not to escalate thesituation or get dramatic...I generally like your posts, HL...

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Yeah, I got kinda snarky with the sarcasm there but didn't mean too much by it.

That being said, since I'm of the belief of giving people the benefit of the doubt I'm not going to jump to the worst possible conclusions with Te'o.

If his story is taken at its word I'm not going to assume the worst of him just because he was duped by somebody over the internet.

That kind of headline isn't quite the same as the Shaun Phillips issues and others of that nature you alluded to, and I find it a little hard to fault the guy that our tabloid loving society took his story and ran with it to the point of him being harassed by reporters at the combine when he was still waiting in line for his turn.

Yea this has been all over twitter today. Some people are making a big stink about it. He's already apologized to charger fans and said it won't happen again. So he's good in my book . But of all the other teams he could of worn a hat for...

This whole situation has basically been people picking on something that had been embarrassing for Te'o. People stop making fun of you or giving you a hard time when you make it apparent that their insults don't bother you.

This whole situation has basically been people picking on something that had been embarrassing for Te'o. People stop making fun of you or giving you a hard time when you make it apparent that their insults don't bother you.

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Pretty much sums it up right here. I don't even get all the hate on Te'o for the fake gf thing in the first place. He had some **** happen to him completely unrelated to the sport ad suddenly football fans everywhere become E! Entertainment reporters caring about Te'o's personal life the way teenagers follow the latest exploits of Kim Kardashian.

As for Allen, who cares? I'm guessing he was a Raiders fan growing up and just had a brain fart as to the ramifications of wearing the hat now that he was drafted by a division rival.

So long as he takes his job seriously I'm not going to get angry that he got caught wearing a hat...so long as he doesn't keep doing it now that he's actually a part of the rival (to them) organization.

As for Allen, who cares? I'm guessing he was a Raiders fan growing up and just had a brain fart as to the ramifications of wearing the hat now that he was drafted by a division rival.

So long as he takes his job seriously I'm not going to get angry that he got caught wearing a hat...so long as he doesn't keep doing it now that he's actually a part of the rival (to them) organization.

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Hey, and don't forget that he is obviously a big fan of In-N-Out Burger restaurants...

As for Allen, who cares? I'm guessing he was a Raiders fan growing up and just had a brain fart as to the ramifications of wearing the hat now that he was drafted by a division rival.

So long as he takes his job seriously I'm not going to get angry that he got caught wearing a hat...so long as he doesn't keep doing it now that he's actually a part of the rival (to them) organization.

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What I thought was funny is that it doesn't look like an authentic Raiders hat. It looks like a bad knockoff. You think he could afford the real thing.

This whole situation has basically been people picking on something that had been embarrassing for Te'o. People stop making fun of you or giving you a hard time when you make it apparent that their insults don't bother you.

What would've made it even better is if Te'o had contacted the girl they used pictures of and brought her with him. But agreed so far, he's handled this about as well as he could, and the more he makes it a joke on himself and goes with it, the sooner it will get old. Plus, he got a free invite to go hang out with the 100 hottest girls according to Maxim, what kind of man turns down that deal....lol

What would've made it even better is if Te'o had contacted the girl they used pictures of and brought her with him. But agreed so far, he's handled this about as well as he could, and the more he makes it a joke on himself and goes with it, the sooner it will get old. Plus, he got a free invite to go hang out with the 100 hottest girls according to Maxim, what kind of man turns down that deal....lol